Unbelievable

My Front-row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History

Called 'disgraceful, ' 'third-rate, ' and 'not nice' by Donald Trump, NBC News correspondent Katy Tur reported on--and took flak from--the most volatile presidential candidate in American history. Katy Tur lived out of a suitcase for a year and a half, following Trump around the country, powered by packets of peanut butter and kept clean with dry shampoo. She visited forty states with the candidate, made more than 3,800 live television reports, and tried to endure a gazillion loops of Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer' -- a Trump rally playlist staple. From day 1 to day 500, Tur documented Trump's inconsistencies, fact-checked his falsities, and called him out on his lies. In return, Trump repeatedly singled Tur out. He tried to charm her, intimidate her, and shame her. At one point, he got a crowd so riled up against Tur, Secret Service agents had to walk her to her car. Through all the long nights, wild scoops, naked chauvinism, dodgy staffers, and fevered debates, no one had a better view than Tur. This is her darkly comic and often scary story of how America sent a former reality show host to the White House. It's also the story of what it was like for Tur to be there as it happened, inside a no-rules world where reporters were spat on, demeaned, and discredited. Tur was a foreign correspondent who came home to her most foreign story of all. Unbelievable is for anyone who still wakes up and wonders, Is this real life?

This is a good read although unfortunately I learned some things that happened during the campaign that were even more unsavory than I already knew. She did a good job of reporting the facts(not fake news). I wish I knew why authors like to go back and forth between time frames, it does not add to the narrative especially when it all just happened. She is very knowledgeable and how she stood up physically and when her life was threatened by Trump supporters is commendable.

I really enjoyed this book. It was informative about the campaign and frustrating and unbelievable details about Trump and his supporters and confirms I have reason to be afraid of what is happening in this country. A good read.

Quick read. The book is a series of flashbacks between election night in 2016 and the Trump campaign with fleeting glimpses into her personal life. She leaves out the juicy tidbit that she met her future husband Tony Dokoupil in the make-up room of NBC. He's now with CBS. At the end of the book, she hints at their romance (the 400 square foot apartment) and asks "Do we have time to get married now?" at the end of the acknowledgments.

I read this book between Hillary Clinton's What Happened which I didn't like and Michael Wolff's brilliant Fire and Fury (thank you, UW Bookstore) which I loved.

I wish Ms. Tur had more timely articulated and exposed the racist underbelly of Trump's campaign.

Great for any news junkies or anyone curious about a reporter's life on the road, this takes a look into the not-so-distant past election. The writing is engaging and it includes personal anecdotes of an insider's look to being on the campaign trail. The format alternates between election day and the road up to it.

I thought I may be bored reading this since I kept up on the campaign while it was going on, but Katy brings out info that was not seen on tv. I am deeply saddened by the lack of any civility by some of Trump's supporters. The language they used toward media was shameful. I cannot understand where they think the kind of language they are using toward anyone that does not support Trump makes them look intelligent. It does the very opposite.

Until we can get the full story - hopefully of Trump's impeachment and unceremonious exit from the world stage - I'll settle for getting a story from the run-up to his election. Katy Tur does a good job at telling her story. I think there will be more interesting, insider stories which will reach us in the future (a journalist can't really be considered an insider to the total behind the scenes truth about the campaign) but Ms. Tur does a nice job of telling an interesting story while interspersing a bit about her own personal life as well. The book does a good and enjoyable job of introducing me to Katy Tur as well as to that awful orange man.

So fun, so fast-paced, so interesting, so unbelievable! Katy Tur is one of a kind, a talented and exceptional, gifted writer with an amazing story.

Unfortunately, it was not a story I could read at this point in time. I just finished reading Hillary Clinton's "What Happened" and thought this would be a nice bookend to that side of things. Not! The craziness of this side of things, the undisciplined behavior, the amateurish unprofessionalism, the lack of seriousness of the whole Trump campaign was difficult to relive.

Ultimately, I had to stop. Maybe I'll pick it up in another year, as it's so well written and descriptive of a once-in-a-lifetime election. But maybe not. It seems like I need some distance between Trump and this book, and that isn't happening currently.

Katy Tur wrote a very interesting book. Very refreshing in her tone. Very factual. If you love Trump you probably will not like this book even tho she doesn't call him out on his malignant narcissism. I watch Katy Tur on MSNBC and like and respect her a lot. I found this book to be a page turner from her personal life to her on the road reporting.